Art Chronicle
Sweeney Soby and Surrealism
THE PROGRESSION OF MODERN ART
diffe<,
r ...
m
that of
P""
p•dod•
in
its dependence upon illustrated books. Exhibitions come and go, but
volumes and catalogs (particularly when compiled as ambitiously as those
issued by the Museum of Modern Art*) remain behind for leisurely con–
templation. I dwell upon the writings of James Sweeney and James Soby
rather than upon the shows of Min) and Dali which they arranged
respec~
tively and simultaneously last December because they represent a trend
in
contemporary criticism which I do not think adequately pursues the
function of the critic. Both writers manage to be specific and accurate
when they are dealing with picturesque details; anecdotes and quotations
are documented in a thoroughly businesslike manner. But when esthetic
matters are approached the writers become either so general or so inaccu–
rate that the public must be very much confused.
The two Spanish painters are quite justly put forward as enemies of
abstract painting. ("Have you ever heard of greater nonsense than the
aims
of the abstractionist group?" asks Min'>. "This model mental debility
called abstract art" Dali jeers in a chapter called the
Abject Misery of
..4bstraction-Creation.)
To get over some possible obstructions of a per–
IOnal order let me say that I do not believe that this has stood in the way
of my appreciation of either artist. Min) I have long considered the most
important painter of his generation; in Dali, on the other hand, I have
aever found much beyond a slick presentation of unexpectedly-juxtaposed
objects,
double images, etc., that sound much spookier in words than they
appear when realized by Dali. Even so it is not with Dali's platform that
I quarrel, which impelled by a distinguished sensibility might conceivably
produce fine paintings. (But I do not share enthusiasm for his technioal
equipment, for before discussing it one should qualify the meaning of
~ique."
If
it means merely that he paints tightly, without ever slop–
ping
over the contour-lines, then Dali is a good technician, along with
Sheeler, Blume, and many others. But this is not so difficult a feat as it
• usually considered by non-painters if one uses fine sable brushes after
.-dpapering the canvas, and
particularly
if one cares nothing for keep–
ilg
the parts keyed into any sort of structural fabric. For me technique
• something more complicated and internal than this.)
Let us now return to the manner in which the two painters are being
~ted.
I support Sweeney and Soby in emphasizing their anti-abstract
tlllldencies but I feel that they both present the crucial point in a way
•Joan Mir6, by James Johnson Sweeney;
Salvador Dali,
by James Thrall Soby.
1lle
Museum
of Modern Art, New York. $2.00 each.
125
